September 16, 2010

Review : Much Ado About Magic by Patricia Rice

Title : Much Ado About Magic
Author : Patricia Rice
Reading Dates : 25 Aug - 25 Aug 2010
Much Ado About Magic (Signet Eclipse)
Magic Series
The books in the series are :
  • Merely Magic
  • Must Be Magic
  • The Trouble with Magic
  • This Magic Moment
  • Much Ado about Magic
  • Magic Man
From goodreads :
Lady Lucinda Malcolm Pembroke's paintings may have caused scandals in the past, but never one like this. Somehow she's painted a perfect likeness of a man she's never met-and depicted him as a murderer. Determined to unravel the mystery that is Sir Trevelyan Rochester and flee the gossip surrounding her, she assumes a disguise and escapes to a remote cottage, only to find herself face-to-face with her dashing nemesis.


Book Review of Much Ado About Magic.
Much Ado About Magic was another so-so read which I found myself largely skipping through in order to avoid the less enjoyable bits.

What I didn't like about the story was the heroine. Lucinda is a very foolish and selfish protagonist. Despite evidence to the contrary, it takes her a long time to admit that her paintings do seem to foretell the future. And when faced with the latest scandal related to her work, she runs away and leaves her family to deal with it. Later, she even refuses Trev's marriage proposal with the reasoning that she doesn't want to destroy his peace. Yet, she expects to continue on in a relationship without considering his future happiness.

The other reason I didn't like this book was Lucinda's parents. They seem more intent on hiding her away or separating her from Trev than on her happiness. The mobilization of the Malcolm and Ives “troops” would have been so much more fun if it had been done to help Lucinda and Trev instead of to hunt for and separate them.

The only thing about the book which I enjoyed is Trev who treats Lucinda as an equal. Instead of the usual posturing, he has no problems following her lead when she is more knowledgeable. Just as he expects her to follow his when he is in his element. In fact near the end of the story, Lucinda's father offers Trev help to clear his name in exchange for his staying away from Lucinda. Trev doesn't just refuse. He makes clear his choice and asks for Lucinda's decision as well. When she urges him to take her father's offer, Trev tries to understand her reasoning instead of leaving under a misunderstanding. Its nice to have the main characters show each other more trust in their relationship for a change.

My conclusion : Borrow for a read if you're looking for a paranormal romance to pass the time. Otherwise, skip this one.

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